Burn: Outlaw Romance (Hotter Than Hell Book 3) (23 page)

We slip into the room and I close the door behind us. Her hands go to her hips. “I can clean the kitchen myself,” she challenges.

“I’m aware of that. You can clean the club, do the laundry, shop, and cook too. Good for you. It must be that subservient Latina blood of yours.”

Her head immediately lifts higher. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“You heard me. Now be the good little Latina and lose the clothes and get on your back.”

I expect her fists flying at my face but not the knee she tries to de-man me with. Luckily she connects with my thigh. “Need to work on that move, princess.” I’ve captured her right fist in my hand and I’m ready for the other one. I also pull her in close so her legs aren’t as big a threat.

Her body goes lax, but she doesn’t fool me. “What the fuck are you doing, Dagger?” she huffs out and flicks her head so her hair goes over her shoulder.

“I’m tired of your attitude and everything you’re doing to avoid me except when we hit the bed at night.”

“What? You act like I’m your old lady or something.”

Hmm. Is that what this is about? “Do you need a formal invitation to be my old lady, princess?”

Something strange flashes in her eyes. “Fuck you, the last thing I want is to be some skinhead’s old lady.”

And we’re back to this. “You fuck like you want it.”

“You prick,” she screams.

I’m surprised at the violence of the sound, and I release her. She stumbles back a foot.

“Sofia, what the hell is up?” I ask in clear confusion. She wipes her hand at the corner of her eye. Tears? What the fuck is happening?

“It’s time for me to move on. I have a life I want to get started now that I don’t need to spend every waking minute thinking about killing Fox. You need to let me go, Dagger.”

She’s serious.

“I’m not letting you go, Sofia, so put that thought right out of your fucking head,” I say in desperation and without really thinking about exactly what the words might mean to her.

“So, I’m still your prisoner after everything I’ve done? I’m not good enough to just walk away?”

I’m fucking this up royally. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“You think I don’t know exactly what you mean?” she grinds out. Her hands start fisting in and out. “My mother was Fox’s possession and his punching bag. From what I’ve seen in life that’s what the kind of relationship you and I have is all about. I won’t take that shit, so it’s better if I leave now because I will kill your ass if you ever hit me.”

Fuck. I run my hand across my head. “If you’re talking about the day you came to the club, which is the only time I’ve hit you, I didn’t have much choice, but I sure as fuck wasn’t proud of it.”

“That’s what you say now. I have a temper and I use my fists to keep people in line. It’s not exclusively a man’s trait.”

“So why the fuck have you pulled back from confrontation? Where’s that hot temper you’re so proud of?” She looks stricken, but I go on. “You want to use your fists on me, go ahead. I’ll be damned if I ever hit you back, but if that’s your thing, take your best shot.” Her palm comes out and plants solidly in my chest causing me to move back an inch. “That it?” I taunt.

Her other fist takes me in the face. My head turns with the blow and my lip splits. I wipe the blood away. “What the fuck are you doing, Sofia?”

Her eyes are wild and I have no idea what’s going on in her fucked up head. “Hit me back, damn you,” she says in desperation.

I catch her raised fist before she hits me again. “No. I just said I would never hit you.”

“You know you fucking want to,” she screams and jerks her fist from my hand.

“No, I don’t.”

She backs up another six inches, which makes her feet a bigger threat than her fists. I get ready to block another attempt at my balls. Before I can stop her, she throws the door open and runs from the room. I’m on her heels as she heads to the front room.

It’s obvious the guys were listening because they’re all looking at the two of us like we’ve lost our minds. I think one of us has. Sofia doesn’t stop until she’s in front of Bear, who is unfortunate enough to be standing. He’s not prepared when she drives her fist into his nose. I think the entire room hears the crunch. Fuck. How the hell did this get so out of hand?

“Go ahead, hit me, Bear. Hit the fucking Latina like you want to.”

Blood floods out of Bear’s nose and between the fingers that are now holding his face. His eyes are watering. Somehow he keeps half his attention on Sofia while looking at me in utter confusion. I grab her from behind and her legs kick out. She turns into the wildcat from the first day.

The brothers are struggling with the same shock I am.

“Let her go, Dagger,” Skull says. “Let her get it out.”

He’s the only person I’ve mentioned her mood to. He’s crazy if he thinks she’ll stop now. I release her anyway. I haven’t the foggiest clue what to do.

She immediately turns and faces me. “You think I haven’t been hit plenty of times in my life that I can’t take it?”

“No, princess, that’s not what I think.”

She spins around and faces the guys. “Go ahead, who wants the first shot?” She strikes her fists above her breasts. “Hit me, go ahead.”

“No one’s gonna hit you, Sofia. No one wants to.” I want to cry, though. Me the big bad biker is swamped by emotion due to this woman who doesn’t see what’s right in front of her—love, respect, and family.

“Yes, they do,” she shouts. “They all want to. Every man I’ve known in my whole damned life wanted to. Foster parents, they fucking have no problem with it. My mom’s dealer. He always had a quick hand. Someone fucking hit me,” she screams again.

“Princess, no one here will ever hit you. You want to break another nose, go ahead if it will make you feel better.”

She half turns while watching the guys. Her breath is coming in and out from her lungs in loud pants. Her hands drop to her sides. When she faces me, her eyes are wide and her expression is nothing I can describe. Tears well over and roll down her cheeks.

“I’m fucking crazy, Dagger. No one in my entire fucking life has been able to handle me. You don’t want the fucked up mess I am. Everyone will want me gone and I’ll be thrown out like a piece of trash.” Her head is shaking wildly.

Ah, hell. I step closer, afraid she’ll run or worse start fighting again. I pull her in against my chest. Her hands lift and her fingernails dig into my chest between us. Her huge sobs are muffled by my shirt. I look at Skull over her head. Then I look at all the men. We’re a fucking club of rejects. Each of us with nightmares we don’t talk about. And I don’t think any of us feel those nightmares are any worse than Sofia’s. What she doesn’t understand is that, for better or worse, she’s one of us.

“I’m sorry, princess,” I say into her hair.

“God, Dagger, fuck. I don’t know what I’m doing. I expected to die when I came here. I should have died.”

“No, baby, don’t say that. You aren’t trash. We need you. This entire club has your back and not a man here will ever let anyone lay a hand on you. You have my promise.”

Skull approaches and places his hand on her back. “My promise too, Sofia.”

One by one, each man walks over and assures her that she’s one of us. When Rufus steps forward, he wipes his eyes. “My only job is to keep you safe. I’ll do it forever. Don’t you worry now.”

She won’t turn and face the men and that’s okay. I lift and cradle her against my chest as I carry her back to our room. She curls into my arms on the bed with all her clothes on while I whisper assurances and run my fingers through her hair.

“No one has ever wanted me. I’m so afraid, Dagger, afraid you and the brothers will get rid of me,” she cries softly.

“You’re stuck being my old lady,” is the last thing I say before her breathing slows and I know she’s asleep.

I love her, and all I can do is pray she doesn’t leave. Because if she tries, I won’t stop her.

Dax

IT’S BEEN TWO WEEKS
since Sofia’s meltdown. That’s what she jokingly calls it. I watch her carefully and I’m glad to see her dark mood that led up to what happened is gone for now. She’s happy. The real change has been in her not holding back her feelings when something pisses her off. She’s my feisty hot Latina again with strong emotions. The guys can handle it and the rest of us enjoy watching when one of us is singled out and she goes off. She’s using her voice and keeping her fists to herself.

“I’ve always been a throwaway. I was just waiting for it to happen again,” she told me the morning after the meltdown.

Those words broke my heart.

When she apologized to Bear, he pulled her in for a crushing hug. She baked him a cake that night and told him he didn’t need to share. He did of course.

The whores are back working the bar and front room. Sofia’s message regarding cheating on old ladies made an impact. The attached men keep their hands to themselves. No one wants to face the wrath of Sofia, as it’s now known. If she says she’ll cut off their dicks, they don’t doubt it.

I’m proud to have her as an old lady. The entire club is proud of her. She still cooks and we’re all thankful. Red’s ladies do the majority of the cleaning under Sofia’s direction too.

The club is riding steady and we’ve been waiting for the permits to come through so we can put our business plans into action. It’s with a sense of satisfaction that I stare at the envelope from the county. I submitted all the paperwork for the store weeks ago and this is the go-ahead we need. I tear into the envelope and start reading. Sofia walks up and peers over my shoulder.

“They’ve turned you down?” she whispers.

She’s reading faster than I am. My eyes skim the words and my heart sinks. “Fuck.”

“It says the County Board of Supervisors disapproved your proposal. How can they do that?”

I know the how and why. We’re a fucking club of ex-cons. Each of us with a felony record. I was fucking stupid to think they would give us a shot. Hell, everything was riding on this. We could open a motorcycle shop here on the property but we’d get little business. We need to be on the highway.

“Dagger.” Sofia places her hand on my back.

I shrug her hand off. “I need to ride,” I say and place the paperwork on the closest table and walk out. I head to my bike and start her up. I take off after putting on the shades I keep in my saddlebag. Sofia didn’t follow me and I know she’ll be pissed off when I come back, but I need space.

Fuck.

I hit the highway and pick up speed. An hour later I’m in Phoenix on the 101 Loop. Twenty minutes later, I pull in front of the large iron gates that surround Moon’s home. Two very large guards walk out to greet me. I turn off the engine and climb off my bike.

“Are Moon or Gomez available? They don’t know I’m here.”

“Moon knows you’re here,” one guy says. I think his name is Rack. He’s one of the guys who tied me to the rafter in the garage before Gomez began beating the shit out of me.

“Let him in,” Gomez says from behind the gate. “Bring your bike inside,” he adds.

The men don’t question Moon’s enforcer, and a minute later, I’m rolling my bike in front of the monstrosity of a house. Gomez shakes my hand when I hop off the bike. He’s in a suit and tie that reeks power. I look like shit in my dusty jeans and dirty T-shirt. He doesn’t blink an eye. On closer inspection, I can see he’s tired. Exhausted is more like it.

“How are you, Dax? The wrist looks good.”

I hold up my wrist and fist my hand without pain. His goons broke it when they pulled a car maneuver and caused me to wreck my bike. “Better than the bike. Haven’t had time to get the thing fixed properly yet. She needs bodywork and a paint job. How are you?” His massive shoulders shrug, which is so out of character for him. “How’s Kiley and Celina?” I ask more pointedly.

“They’re good. We got them out of state. Safer that way. Thanks for the heads up with the warrant. We felt no backlash, so everything must be clear on your end.”

This man had the hots big time for Celina, Kiley’s aunt. I’m surprised he allowed her out of his sight. Could be the cause for his sleepless nights. “They found nothing and left with their tails between their legs. Doesn’t mean they won’t be back.”